Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Are They Being Imposed and Who Is Receiving
Them?  (Letter Report, 11/04/93, GAO/GGD-94-13).

In response to growing numbers of drug trafficking and firearms
offenses, several changes were made to federal sentencing policies
during the 1980s, including federal sentencing guidelines and statutes
carrying mandatory minimum sentences.  A review of cases in which
offenders were convicted of violating laws carrying mandatory minimum
sentences showed that 85 percent of the defendants were sentenced to at
least the mandatory prison times; the average sentence was almost 14
years for offenses carrying a 10-year mandatory minimum.   GAO also
found that most offenders were males between the ages of 21 and 40, most
of whom were high-school dropouts.  In four of the eight districts GAO
reviewed, the majority were first-time offenders, although in one
district, nearly 80 percent were repeat offenders.  Hispanics were most
frequently represented in five districts, blacks in two districts, and
whites in one district.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  GGD-94-13
     TITLE:  Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Are They Being Imposed and Who 
             Is Receiving Them?
      DATE:  11/04/93
   SUBJECT:  Crimes or offenses
             Convictions
             Criminals
             Demographic data
             Criminal procedure
             Litigation
             Statutory law
             Drug trafficking
             Law enforcement
             Federal law
IDENTIFIER:  New York
             Florida
             Nebraska
             California
             Texas
             Illinois
             
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